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Burh

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A map of burhs named in the 10th-centuryBurghal Hidage.

Aburh(Old English pronunciation:[burˠx]) orburgwas anAnglo-Saxonfortification or fortified settlement. In the 9th century, raids and invasions byVikingspromptedAlfred the Greatto develop a network of burhs and roads to use against such attackers. Some were new constructions; others were situated at the site ofIron AgehillfortsorRomanfortsand employed materials from the original fortifications. As atLundenburh(medievalLondon), many were also situated onrivers:this facilitated internal lines of supply while aiming to restrict access to the interior of the kingdom for attackers in shallow-draughtvessels such aslongships.

Burhs also had a secondary role as commercial and sometimes administrative centres. Their fortifications were used to protect England's variousroyal mints.

Name[edit]

"-bury" redirects here. For other uses, seeBury (disambiguation).See alsoList of generic forms in place names in Ireland and the United Kingdom
burg
burh
beorh
Beowulf's author uses words likeburg,burh,andbeorh,which came from the single root, but already had three different meanings.

BurhandburgwereOld Englishdevelopments of theProto-Germanicwordreconstructedas*burg-s,cognatewith theverb*berg-an[1]( "to shut in for protection" ).[2]They arecognatewithGermanBurg,DutchburchtandScandinavianborgand, in English, developed variously as "borough",[1]"burg",[3]and (particularly in theEast Anglianregion of England andScotland) "burgh".[4]

Byrig[note 1]was thepluralform ofburhandburg:[note 2]"forts", "fortifications". It was also thedativeform: "to the fort" or "for the fort". This developed into "bury" and "berry", which were used to describemanor houses,large farms, or settlements beside the fortifications.[5]

In addition to the English foundations described here, these names were sometimes used inOld Englishcalquesor variants ofnativeplacenames, including theBrittonic*-dunonandWelshcaer,as atSalisbury.

Background[edit]

The burh wall atWallingford, Oxfordshire.

Burhs were originally built as military defences. According toH. R. Loyn,the burh "represented only a stage, though a vitally important one, in the evolution of the medieval English borough and of the medieval town".[6]The boundaries of ancient burhs can often still be traced to modern urbanboroughlimits. Most of these were founded byAlfred the Greatin a consciously planned policy that was continued under his sonEdward the Elderand his daughter,Æthelflæd,the 'Lady of the Mercians', and her husbandÆthelred, Ealdorman of Mercia.TheMercianRegister tells of the building of ten burhs by Æthelflæd, some as important asTamworthandStafford,others now unidentifiable.[7]

Some were based upon pre-existingRomanstructures, some newly built, though others may have been built at a later date.Æthelstangranted these burhs the right tomint coinageand in the tenth and eleventh centuries the firm rule was that no coin was to bestruckoutside a burh.[8]

A tenth-century document, now known as theBurghal Hidageand so named byFrederic William Maitlandin 1897, cites thirty burhs inWessexand three in Mercia. At the time, Mercia was ruled by the West Saxon kings. These burhs were all built to defend the region againstVikingraids.[9]

Only eight of the burhs achieved municipal status in theMiddle Ages:Chester,Bridgnorth,Tamworth,Stafford,Hertford,Warwick,BuckinghamandMaldon.[10]The largest were atWinchester,WallingfordandWarwick,whilst Wallingford andWarehamare the best-preserved examples, with substantialditchesandbanksstill visible. It has been estimated that construction of Wallingford's 9,000 feet (2,700 m) of bank would have taken more than 120,000 man hours. Burh towns also usually had regular street layouts, some of which are still preserved.[11]Burhs are widely thought to have been the origins of urban life in England. In most cases, Alfred's rebuilding of a burh did not cause any change of name, as the sites chosen had already been some sort of fortified structure.[12]

Construction[edit]

The walled defence around a burh. Alfred's capital,Winchester.Early and later medieval work on Roman foundations.

The burhs were made in a variety of different ways, depending on materials available locally, and the size of the settlement or area it was intended to defend.[13]

Frequently, a burh was built on the site of pre-existing fortifications. Sometimes, old Roman walls were simply repaired, as in towns such asWinchester,Exeter,York,Burgh Castle,PortchesterandDover.At other times, they would build on the site of old Iron Age forts, such as Dover, utilising the old ditches and ramparts.[13]

However, many of the burhs were entirely new fortified sites, built on strategic sites on the coast, near ports or overlooking roads and trade routes. Substantial new towns were built on flat land with a rectangular layout, at for exampleOxford,Wallingford,CrickladeandWareham.[13]

Traditionally, burhs were constructed first with a massive series of banks fronted by a ditch.[13]The bank was typically timber faced and timberrevetted.[14]This was topped by a wooden palisade of stakes, up to 10 feet (3.0 m) high, with a walkway. At towns such as Tamworth, the ramparts would decay and push outwards over time, meaning that the ditch and bank would deteriorate. To solve this, the banks were faced with stone, thus further reinforcing the defences and improving their life span.[11]

Purpose[edit]

The purpose was primarily to provide defence for a port or town, and the surrounding farms, villages and hamlets. According to theAnglo-Saxon Chronicle,Alfred constructed a series of burhs, listed in theBurghal Hidagenumbering over 30. Apparently, it was Alfred's intention that no English farm or village be any more than 20 miles (32 km) away from a burh. He built a network of well maintained army roads, known asherepaths,that interconnected the burhs, allowing the population quick access to shelter (in their local burh). Theherepathsenabled Alfred's troops to move swiftly to engage the enemy. It also meant that reinforcements could be called up easily, from other burhs if needed. Ryan Lavelle believes that each burh would have had a mounted force that would be ready for action against the Vikings.[15]It is probable that there was a system of beacons on the high hills of Wessex that gave advance warning of any invader.[15]Thus with this integrated network of fortifications and defence with the burhs at its centre, Alfred was able to make it difficult for the Vikings to seize strategically important towns and ports.[15]

Burhsalso had secondary roles as economic centres, safe havens in which trade and production could take place. Armouries, blacksmiths, royal mints and trading posts were all located within the burh. They would be used as supply depot for the Anglo-Saxon army when it was in the field, thus ensuring that the Anglo-Saxon troops had a continual supply of weapons, fresh horses and food.[16]

During Alfred's reign there was a definite demarcation between the royalfyrd(royal army) and those of the local fyrd (local defence force). The local fyrd were responsible for the construction and defence of their burh, whereas members of the royal fyrd served under the king.[17]

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^InOld English orthographya word-final⟨g⟩following an⟨i⟩represented apalatal approximant/j/,equivalent to the sound of modern English⟨y⟩
  2. ^In thenominativeandaccusative cases.

Citations[edit]

  1. ^abOxford English Dictionary,1st ed. "borough,n."Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1887.
  2. ^Oxford English Dictionary,1st ed. "† bergh | berȝe | berwe,v."Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1887.
  3. ^Oxford English Dictionary,1st ed. "burg,n."Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1888.
  4. ^Oxford English Dictionary,1st ed. "burgh,n."Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1888.
  5. ^Oxford English Dictionary,1st ed. "† ˈbury,n."Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1888.
  6. ^Loyn,Anglo-Saxon England and the Norman Conquest,2nd ed. 1991:138.
  7. ^Loyn 1991:138.
  8. ^Loyn 1991:137f.
  9. ^Hill/ Rumble. The Defence of Wessex. p. 1
  10. ^Loyn 1991:139f, noting Tait
  11. ^abLavelle. Fortifications in Wessex c. 800-1066. pp. 33-38
  12. ^Tait. The Medieval Borough. pp. 1-29
  13. ^abcdWelch. Anglo-Saxon England. pp. 125-131
  14. ^Lapidge. Anglo-Saxon England. p. 191
  15. ^abcLavelle. Fortifications in Wessex c. 800-1066. p. 26
  16. ^Lavelle. Fortifications in Wessex c. 800-1066. pp. 39-46
  17. ^Powicke. Military Obligation. pp. 8-9

References[edit]

  • Hill, David; Rumble, Alexander R., eds. (1996).The Defence of Wessex: The Burghal Hidage and Anglo-Saxon Fortifications.Manchester: Manchester University Press.ISBN0-719-03218-0.
  • Lapidge, Michael Ed.; John Blair; Simon Keynes; Donald Scragg (2001).The Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England.London: Blackwell.ISBN0-631-22492-0.
  • Lavelle, Ryan (2003).Fortifications in Wessex c. 800-1066.Oxford: Osprey.ISBN978-1-84176-639-3.
  • Loyn, H.R (1991).Anglo-Saxon England and the Norman Conquest.Harlow, Essex: Longman Group.ISBN0-582-07297-2.
  • Powicke, Michael (1962).Military Obligation in Medieval England.Oxford: Oxford University Press.ISBN0-19-820695-X.
  • Tait, James(1936).The Medieval English Borough: Studies on Its Origins and Constitutional History.Manchester University.
  • Welch, Martin (1992).Anglo-Saxon England.London: English Heritage.ISBN0-7134-6566-2.

Further reading[edit]

External links[edit]

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